The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-02-16


I;xposed Packages of Fruits, Candies
and :5ut1-Hard TO Draw tho Line.
Ono Mans Plan.
zone of tho petty nuisanccs we have to
suffer il cur limo Of business, sai1a Wabash
avenue grocer, lis tho continual pi!fcrlnGs
from cur counters from exposed packages OF
fruits, candies, nuts, etc., which our b1sl-
ness compel US to display to make them at
tractivc. Now see that old nIan with his
da;.rhtcr coming in at tho door. lGo is q
REGULAR customer and comes in almost every
cvca:rr. SEQ! No sooner docs he get
through tho door than out goes his hand Tor
small bunch Of grapes. There is nothing
surreptitious in the act on his part, as you
will notice. He evidently thinks he t'oes
nothing wrong and urconsciously helps him
self to snail handful Of some cnticinS lnor-
SCI which lis palate takes fancy to almost
every cvcnia-, as you sec he La5 just done.
Like fs::.hcr lil;o eoa' vii apply to the
tc,~,..:acr c!so, for there CO.'S the young lady,
who is waiting for hc2 father to make his
evening purchases, making b2o limo for tho
candy counter, q small bit from ono tray and
q d;2 into another, until the cntiro circuit Of
tho store is made. 1t IS truo that what they
have eaten is Of small value, but during q
whole day, with tho hundreds Of customers
VIC have going in aid ont, tho aggregate
amount Of our losses in this very Same way
is much larger than you would suppose"
II stand in this part Of the store, said
one of the statesmen, ''tho cntiro day and
havo the very best opportunity for observing
u, ! rriyy
YOU all instance of how severely we suffer at
times from these seemingly unconscious as-
similations, politely speaking. One day last
week, after being moro than usually annoyed
at tho libcrty taken in this by way an elderly
woman with every appearance OF ofreiinemcnt
and rcspactability, ] resolved TO test the mat
ter of these losses to my employer by placing
a five pound box of Tokay grapes whero
every enc coming in and going out must pass
them. This did in the morning as soon ns
the store vas opened, and By 3 O'Clock in
tho afternoon, give you my word OF honor,
there was not a single grape in that boxl
HARD TO D2Aw TIE LINE.
"I went to our manager and told lin Of
my experience, and he gave strict ipstruc-
tions to cal! The attention Of any one who
was seen taking such liberties to tho fact
that the goods were exposed fer sale, and
were rot samples for gratuitous distribution,
rs they seemed 10 think. We we're also
given to understand that il We did this re-
snect:ully our conduct would meet with the
support anil encouragement Of tho proprie-
tor Still, with these rules we must draw
tac line somewhere, and it is hard to tell
lust wlcrO TO do so; we have customers
whose trado is very profitable, and were wo
to speak to them Of such TN action os
liberty taken, and cyen in the most respect
full manner reprovo them they would be
offended beyond our ability TO explain the
reason of our doing SO and we should certain
" lose their trade and their good will for
ever"
At another store, where the counters are
ornamented in profusion with delicacies in
and out Of season, pretty much the same COM
plaint was made although no instructions
had been given salesmen to lessen the an
noyance This proprietor smiled dryly in
convcrsing with q reporter on tho topic and
finally said: lone Of my experiences with
tho lunch business, as we call it, wGs at Our
cracker and cheese counter. For long
time we had our dairy department in an out
of The way place in the store, and rear by
were the cracker boxes and barrels. On sew
eral occasons during the middle Of the day
had frequently stood almost directly over
this SPOT md could easily see the movements
of every one in tho store Now it might
sound absurd for me to say that business
man and ncighbor would come into my place
ani 60 directly to that cheese counter and
cracker barrel and h ZIP himself to a midday
lunch, but it is n fact nevertheless.
PUT STOP TO IT.
"And not only did one man do it, but
during the course Of week when was in
terested in the cheekincss Of tho liberty
taken with my goods, beyond my pecuniary
less thcrcfrom, I watched that particular
locality more closely than usual. Believe
aiu saw no less than five men come to that
counter and help themselves every day until
l put stop to it by moving these articles TO
other places, where by q different arrange
mcnt this spongirg could not bo continued
without being downright theft. We'll it
would have been worth n weeks salary to
you to have watched that counter with me
tho following day. Tiey came in singly and
by pairs shortly after ~ o'clock and on
reaching their accustomed haunts loo'e OF
blank astonishnent was depicted on their
countenances Mt the metamorphosis of that
particular spot. I was almost afraid it
would 10 necessary to take their ante NOR
tenn statement before they could leave my
store"
"Do you have any other similar annoy
nnces i'll your business was asked.
"Well yes, thero is one other, but it is far
more serious, and hardly should speak Of
it, Our system of cash sales requires the
purchaser to pay for his articles at a cashiers
desk on going out. We have, in somo cases.
caught people trying to leave the store with
out setting, but it does not occur very fire.